Recent Reads - 6 quick recommendations

[Geoff Jones]

• The Dog Stars (Peter Heller) A man and his dog and his plane survive the apocalypse. Similar to The Road but not quite sodark.
• The Painter (Peter Heller) More of a character study than The Dog Stars. Anger+Artist+Grief.
• Horns (Joe Hill) A contemporary devil story with an emotional wallop.
• The Martian (Andy Weir) Just like Apollo 13 or Gravity, but in book form and on Mars.
• Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) Terrific character study + murder mystery w/ unsatisfying ending.
• Ready Player One (Ernest Cline) 80s pop culture geek porn.

I recommend any of these, depending on what you are looking for.

Geoff

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm looking forward to Gone Girl when the film is released later this year. Looks good.

 

[Doc Creed]

Here are some that I picked from the last ten years:

I'd also include John Irving...I read his as they're published. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to reading his latest. The good news is, his books are so infrequent, that I have this one to ration.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Anything from C.J. Box.
He has a pile of stories set in Wyoming, game warden Joe Pickett the hero protagonist and a kind of John D MacDonald Travis McGee...the difference being that Joe is a family man, a husband and a father, something MacDonald's McGee doesn't approach. Too, Joe has a brother that died, as did McGee and I'm guessing that is a nod to MacDonald/McGee.
Anything from John D MacDonald...the man rocks...his stories are a blast to read have only read one stinker from him...Contrary Pleasures or something close to that.
Anything from Elmore Leonard, good stuff. Fun stuff.
Leonard has a comedic vein that runs deep...MacDonald, not so much...but MacDonald does have a story, the title of which I forget, but a bunch of...student types...are invited to Mexico to live in a hotel, write and whatnot. That story has some laughs. Warm blood, loving nature. Big shoes.
There's a pile of others...C.J. Box and the above made a big impression on me.
Looking for some new drugs. Anyone have anything hot?

 

[Kurben]

I can recommend Ross MacDonald. He has been standing, a bit unfairly, in John D Macdonalds shadow but is very good. His Lew Archer stories are very Good.

Anything from C.J. Box.
He has a pile of stories set in Wyoming, game warden Joe Pickett the hero protagonist and a kind of John D MacDonald Travis McGee...the difference being that Joe is a family man, a husband and a father, something MacDonald's McGee doesn't approach. Too, Joe has a brother that died, as did McGee and I'm guessing that is a nod to MacDonald/McGee.
Anything from John D MacDonald...the man rocks...his stories are a blast to read have only read one stinker from him...Contrary Pleasures or something close to that.
Anything from Elmore Leonard, good stuff. Fun stuff.
Leonard has a comedic vein that runs deep...MacDonald, not so much...but MacDonald does have a story, the title of which I forget, but a bunch of...student types...are invited to Mexico to live in a hotel, write and whatnot. That story has some laughs. Warm blood, loving nature. Big shoes.
There's a pile of others...C.J. Box and the above made a big impression on me.
Looking for some new drugs. Anyone have anything hot?

 

[Walter Oobleck]

I can recommend Ross MacDonald. He has been standing, a bit unfairly, in John D Macdonalds shadow but is very good. His Lew Archer stories are very Good.

Thank you. I will check him out. I think I read some/one/a few Ross MacDonald. I know I've seen the name before. Purchased something...House of Evidence, Viktor Arnar Ingolfson...maybe? I tried to buy that other you mentioned, written by a number of writers? Seller sent the wrong book. They did refund my payment. Would like to read that one, too. Will try another seller. Jo Nesbo is okay, too...but all those Norweigian street/place names, person names, gives a reader pause. Translator ought to fudge it...call 'em "Maple" and "Main". 'Stead of Inglestrassenvestival.

 

[Kurben]

Thank you. I will check him out. I think I read some/one/a few Ross MacDonald. I know I've seen the name before. Purchased something...House of Evidence, Viktor Arnar Ingolfson...maybe? I tried to buy that other you mentioned, written by a number of writers? Seller sent the wrong book. They did refund my payment. Would like to read that one, too. Will try another seller. Jo Nesbo is okay, too...but all those Norweigian street/place names, person names, gives a reader pause. Translator ought to fudge it...call 'em "Maple" and "Main". 'Stead of Inglestrassenvestival.

I agree that icelandic names sometimes can be confusing. But you learn to overlook it. If you like the so called nordic crime scene the Icelandic author Arnuldur Indridason is ok too. A competent swedish writer is Henning Mankell, especially Faceless Killers, Sidetracked and One Step Behind. Another Norwegian author that is worth getting to know is Anne Holt.

 

[goathunter]

• Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) Terrific character study + murder mystery w/ unsatisfying ending.

I tried three different times to read Gone Girl. I never could make it past about page 100. Tedious, boring, and predictable (I've heard enough about the twist to know that I knew it from the beginning).

Hunter

 

[fljoe0]

Here's my favorite six (not in any particular order) that I've read recently and that I would recommend

Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
Rise The Dark - Michael Koryta (You need to read Last Words first)
The Fireman - Joe Hill
End Of Watch - Stephen King (You need to read books 1 & 2 first)
The Drop - Michael Connelly
Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

 

[fljoe0]

I can recommend Ross MacDonald. He has been standing, a bit unfairly, in John D Macdonalds shadow but is very good. His Lew Archer stories are very Good.

Count me as a Ross MacDonald fan.